Last week's protest against tuition fees were for the most part peaceful. Sadly, they were also a vehicle for a few to indulge in senseless violence.

In the middle of the spectrum, far from dignified, but a danger mostly to himself was the hapless Charlie Gilmour, who made headlines by scaling the Cenotaph on Whitehall. The exploit received lavish attention largely because Charlie is the stepson of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

Master Gilmour claims he failed to recognise the war memorial. It is not clear what he thought it was. As a student of history at Cambridge he might reasonably be expected to have some familiarity with sacrifices made by earlier generations, on a scale that most young people today can hardly imagine.

Meanwhile, the connection to Pink Floyd is not without poetic irony. One of the band's earliest songs tells of a despondent soldier, grievously wounded, dreams of heroism shattered. "Were they really sad for me?" he sings. "Will they really laugh at me?"